December 14, 2012 - Quintiq is proud to announce that its Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) solution is fully operational at Acciaierie Bertoli Safau (ABS). All manufacturing flows such as casting, pre-heater and hot-rolling mill, and finishing lines at the Udine site in Italy are now being optimized with Quintiq's innovative software.

ABS, market leader in the manufacture of special steels and a part of the Danieli group, chose Quintiq because of its experience and expertise in the field of Advanced Planning and Scheduling software and the groundbreaking optimization capability of its solutions.

Based on its assessment of current and future competitive environments, the management of ABS considered it a strategic necessity to improve some of its key performance indicators in customer service and productivity, and to create a corresponding reduction of working capital. Before choosing Quintiq, the company's planning processes were supported by another planning solution and ERP. Due to the complexity of the ABS's manufacturing processes, the preceding planning system was unable to offer an effective solution for ABS. It did not focus on optimizing resources towards objectives and consequently not obtaining results up to expectation. Quintiq, however, was able to provide a 100%-fit planning solution for ABS.

Luca Visentini

"We were looking for a system that was robust, flexible, and user-friendly at the same time. We chose Quintiq because it showed professionalism, knowledge of processes in the metallurgical industry, and skills related to planning and optimization. Quintiq demonstrated competence and efficiency right from the analysis stage through to the prototyping and negotiation," commented Luca Visentini, ABS project manager.

By implementing the Quintiq APS solution, ABS aims to increase delivery date integrity and optimize the plant resource's saturation: continuous casting, ingots, hot-rolling mills as well as finishing downstream. Quintiq will support ABS in achieving its objectives by optimizing capacity, eliminating bottlenecks, and scheduling activities around primary manufacturing resources. In addition, Quintiq also will provide the ability to carry out "what-if" analyses by creating alternative scenarios and comparing KPIs.

Francois Eijgelshoven

Francois Eijgelshoven, Director Metals and Manufacturing at Quintiq, added, "Implementing a planning software solution that is flexible and focused on improving objectives is of vital importance for excelling in a dynamic and competitive market such as the one ABS operates in. Thanks to the Quintiq solution and our experience in the metallurgical industry, we are sure that ABS will be able to optimize its supply chain, even in such a complex environment, thereby achieving its business objectives."

The implementation of Quintiq within ABS has already stabilized and improved some key performance indicators just one month after the go-live date. As a testament to the company's satisfaction, the next steps for expanding the current project are already being laid out.

About Acciaierie Bertoli Safau

Acciaierie Bertoli Safau is the Italian market leader and among the top three European manufacturers of special steels. ABS was established in 1988 through the merger of two experienced and highly qualified steel plants -- the "Officine Bertoli", established in 1813, and "Safau", established in 1934. The century-long steel-industry experience, together with the spirit of innovation of the Danieli Group to which ABS belongs, ensured the necessary leadership to meet the more demanding market requirements.

Every business has its supply chain planning challenges. Some of those challenges are large. Some are complex. Some seem impossible to solve. Since 1997, Quintiq has been solving each of those challenges with a supply chain planning & optimization software system. Today, approximately 12,000 users in over 80 countries rely on Quintiq software to plan and optimize workforces, logistics and production. Part of Dassault Systèmes (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), Quintiq has offices in the Netherlands, the USA and around the world.